Signs are emerging of a gradual improvement in machinery production and in the automation and motion engineering sectors in Europe. In this exclusive article, the economist Alan Beaulieu, CEO of ITR Economics and chief forecaster for the European Power Transmission Distributors Association, looks at what the future holds.

What does to future hold for the British economy and how should you prepare for it? In this exclusive column, the economist Alan Beaulieu, who is CEO of ITR Economics*, and his colleague, Will Skebey, make some predictions and offer advice for UK industrial firms.